It's the New Year, and a week or two of Festive excess means many of us are desperate to cut the calories and lose those Xmas pounds. The diet industry is rubbing its hands with glee as we all make a dash (albeit whilst wheezing) to join up, download or buy their lifestyle guides, regimes and specially designed foods.
But no matter what diet plan you sign up to, they all have one basic principle: To be more aware of both what you're consuming and how much exercise you're doing.
Whether you're counting calories, keeping food diaries, excluding carbs or firing up the pedometers, good dieting is all about being conscious about your actions. And 99% of the time we're either just not aware of what's in what we're eating or we really have no idea about what we eat.
This "unconscious eating" is well typified in the TV series Secret Eaters where members of the public, at their whits end about why they're so overweight agree to be monitored over the course of a few days. Their recollection of a day of light breakfast, soup for lunch and salad for dinner is sadly blown apart by video footage of a chocolate bar grabbed on the run, a few beers with dinner and snacking from the kitchen in between meals.
Sadly the answer is simple for all the participations - you're just not aware of what you're eating. Start being aware then eat less, eat well and exercise more.
So, how often are we guilty of "unconscious marketing"? We swear we have a great database in order, that we lovingly craft well targeted messages to well defined audiences, and that we have a well thought out contact plan for all of our personas for the year. No way do we spam. No way do we over communicate multiple products & offerings to the same people on the same day.
I think if we let the Secret Eaters team in, we'd be shocked by their findings. So now's a great time to trim down your marketing, sheds those excess pounds & get fit for the year ahead. It all starts with getting aware of your marketing plan. Not matter how biog or small your budgets I bet you're doing too much. And social media and marketing automation probably means we went a bit communication mad in 2013. What started out as youthful enthusiasm is now middle-aged bloat. Time for a detox.
The good news for us all at our whits end of what to do is that its back to basics time. Like dieting, not at a lot has changed even in the hyperactive world of digital. Good marketing is all about knowing the 5 Ps and building a plan around that, using the right channels to communicate the right message at the right time.
Your food diary is an honest tracking of what goes out your door. Your meal planner is your forward looking contact plan. Your calorie-controlled diet is your content plan. Write it all down. In one place. And get the red pen out.
So be tough. Get honest. And stop being in denial. Get on that marketing diet and I'm sure you'll totally nail 2014!
Image source: http://ow.ly/scJmn